Openly
gay
political
candidates
and
elected
officials
are
making
noticeable
strides
—
and
in
some
cases
making
history
—
around
the
country
in
high-profile
races.
Three
of
the
most
prominent
gay
and
transgender
political
players
—
a
San
Francisco
Police
Commission
president,
a
Pittsburgh
City
Councilmember
and
a
Dallas
mayoral
candidate
—
took
time
to
chat
with
the
Blade
about
why
they
got
involved
and
what
it’s
like
to
campaign
as
openly
gay
in
major
metropolitan
areas
today.
THERESA SPARKS
President
S.F.
Police
Comm.
Theresa
Sparks
was
elected
president
of
the
San
Francisco
Police
Commission
May
10,
by
a
vote
of
4-3
over
challenger
Joe
Marshall.
She
is
the
first
transgender
person
in
the
United
States
to
serve
as
a
police
commission
president.
“I
ran
but
I
didn’t
believe
I
would
be
elected,”
she
said.
“Three
are
appointed
by
the
Board
of
Supervisors
and
four
by
the
mayor,
but
one
crossed
over
and
voted
for
me.
This
is
also
the
first
time
there
has
been
a
non-mayoral
appointee
for
president.”
A
Vietnam
veteran
with
three
grown
children,
Sparks
originally
joined
the
commission
as
a
Board
of
Supervisors
appointee
three
years
ago,
after
working
as
a
transgender
activist
for
many
years.
Her
community
involvement
coincided
with
her
decision
to
transition
from
male
to
female
in
1997.
She
worked
a
variety
of
jobs
before
joining
the
sex
toy
company
Good
Vibrations,
where
she
worked
her
way
up
to
her
current
position
as
president.
She
lobbied
the
city
Board
of
Supervisors
for
transgender
rights
and
health
benefits
starting
in
1999
and
founded
the
Transgendered
Political
Caucus
a
year
later.
She
was
appointed
to
the
city’s
Human
Rights
Commission
by
former
Mayor
Willie
Brown
in
2001
and
served
as
co-chair
of
the
Alice
B.
Toklas
LGBT
Democratic
Club,
after
she
convinced
the
group
to
add
bisexual
and
transgender
to
its
name.
In
2003
she
was
the
first
transgender
woman
to
be
named
“Woman
of
the
Year”
by
the
California
State
Assembly
in
Sacramento.
Her
latest
first
as
president
has
not
been
without
controversy,
though.
Commissioner
Louise
Renne,
a
former
city
attorney,
originally
planned
to
serve
the
remaining
year
of
her
term,
but
resigned
from
the
board
the
day
Sparks
was
elected.
“You
have
two
[commissioners]
who
are
actively
running
for
other
offices
and
the
whole
tone
of
the
commission
has
become
completely
political
in
nature,”
Renne
told
the
San
Francisco
Examiner.
Sparks
said
the
differences
between
she
and
Renne
were
about
how
the
police
department
should
be
run
and
how
much
civilian
oversight
there
should
be.
“I’m
keen
on
making
sure
crime
statistics
are
reported
to
citizens
on
a
regular
basis,”
she
said.
“[Renne]
was
less
enthusiastic
because
violent
crime
in
San
Francisco
is
up,
just
like
it
is
in
every
city.
She
was
upset
that
violent
crime
is
increasing
as
opposed
to
being
in
decline
in
an
election
year.”
Sparks
said
her
greatest
challenge
is
being
the
only
transgender
person
on
one
of
the
most
powerful
commissions
in
the
city.
She
said
the
police
force
has
some
248
lesbian,
gay
and
bisexual
officers
and
two
female-to-male
trans
officers.
She
said
relations
between
the
police
department
and
transgender
city
residents
have
been
strained.
“The
trans
community
is
disenfranchised
in
terms
of
housing,
employment
and
public
accommodations,”
she
said.
“The
department
now
needs
to
be
more
careful
because
they
know
there
will
be
hell
to
pay
if
there
are
any
violations.
I
don’t
ask
people
in
the
department
to
understand
a
person
who
is
trans,
and
they
don’t
have
to
like
me,
but
they
do
have
to
do
what
I
say.”
Bruce
Kraus
Pittsburgh
City
Council
Bruce
Kraus
became
the
first
openly
gay
Pittsburgh
City
Council
member
and
the
first
out
public
official
in
western
Pennsylvania
on
May
15.
Kraus
ran
as
an
independent
against
Jeffrey
Koch,
a
former
city
Public
Works
Department
employee
who
won
the
local
Democratic
Party’s
endorsement.
Kraus
received
2,163
votes
to
Koch’s
1,718,
though
some
predicted
Koch
had
the
edge
going
in.
“My
background
is
in
community
service,
not
politics,”
Kraus
said.
“So
I
did
not
get
any
support
from
traditional
Democratic
venues,
such
as
unions
or
the
Democratic
Party.
I
ran
totally
independent.”
The
owner
of
an
interior
design
company,
Kraus
has
been
active
in
his
community
holding
leadership
positions
in
several
civic
groups.
His
progressive
platform
includes
fiscal
responsibility
and
quality-of-life
issues
such
as
blighted
housing,
public
safety
and
city
services
in
the
economically
challenged
region.
“For
far
too
long
the
focus
has
been
on
big-ticket
items
such
as
stadiums,”
he
said.
“Development
isn’t
bad,
but
there
needs
to
be
a
balance
between
quality
of
life
and
economic
development.”
Kraus
said
he
lost
the
March
2006
special
election
by
151
votes
and
realized
he
needed
to
find
another
way
to
win.
One
month
into
his
next
campaign
he
contacted
the
Gay
&
Lesbian
Victory
Fund,
a
political
organization
that
provides
financial
and
campaign
support
via
its
political
action
committee
and
extensive
national
donor
network.
Denis
Dison,
vice
president
of
communications
for
the
Victory
Fund,
said
the
organization’s
political
action
committee
contributed
$2,500,
but
wasn’t
sure
how
much
was
contributed
through
the
network.
Since
there
was
no
Republican
challenger
for
the
race,
the
primary
this
month
determined
...
